An old farmer was pulled over by a smug state trooper who immediately began lecturing him, doing everything he could to rattle the old man and make him feel small.
While filling out the ticket, the trooper kept frantically swatting at a persistent swarm of bugs buzzing around his head.
“Having some trouble with them circle flies, officer?” the farmer asked calmly from behind the wheel.
“Yeah, they’re driving me nuts,” the trooper grumbled. “But why do you call them circle flies?”
“Well,” the farmer shrugged, “around here, we call ’em that because they’re usually only found circling the back end of a horse.”
The trooper nodded absentmindedly and went back to his paperwork. A few seconds later, the realization finally hit him. He snapped his head up and glared indignantly at the old man. “Wait a minute! Are you calling me a horse’s ass?!”
“Oh, absolutely not, officer,” the farmer replied smoothly with a straight face. “I’ve got far too much respect for law enforcement to ever say something like that.”
“Good,” the trooper muttered, looking appeased.
The farmer smiled gently and added:
“But it’s mighty hard to fool them circle flies!”
